How You Can Help Hurricane Florence Relief Efforts

Our Featured Humanitarian Partner: Mercy Corps

Hurricane Florencehas devastated the North Carolina coastline, leaving families without power and causing flood waters to drastically rise. The need for solar phone chargers and lanterns is substantial, and we have partnered with Mercy Corps, as a featuredGive Light, Get Lightpartner, to distribute our lights to those left without power.

After a hurricane, many families have lost everything. In North Carolina, the flooding has been particularly devastating, destroying homes and leaving families disconnected. Having a portable source of power in the days and weeks following a hurricane can be an enormous source of comfort. Dark nights are lit and emergency information and loved ones are accessible. The PackLite Hero 2-in-1 Supercharger is our most powerful lantern. It has the ability to charge smartphones up to 200%, provides 300 lumens in light, and can run for up to 100 hours.

How You Can Help

Mercy Corps has identified a need for up to 1,500 PackLite Hero 2-in-1 Superchargers in their emergency response to Hurricane Florence in North Carolina. These PackLite Hero solar lanterns and phone chargers will provide vulnerable families with a safe source of light and power to charge their phones, so they can stay connected to family or emergency services. Mercy Corps has requested this lantern because its extra-large 4000mAh battery can provide storm survivors with multiple charges per device and up to 100 hours of light in lantern mode. For $35, you can send a 2-in-1 solar lantern and phone charger to families in need.

About Mercy Corps

“Mercy Corps is a global humanitarian organization committed to empowering people around the world to survive through crisis, build better lives and transform their communities for good. Recognized as a leader in delivering rapid, lifesaving aid to hard-hit communities, Mercy Corps has responded to almost every global emergency in the past 20 years, including Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico (2017), the Nepal earthquakes (2015), Philippines typhoon (2013), the Japan earthquake and tsunami (2011), Horn of Africa drought and hunger crisis (2010) and Kashmir earthquake (2005). Mercy Corps was also one of the first responders to the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004) and Haiti earthquake (2010).”

Hurricane Florence Response

Mercy Corps is on the ground in North Carolina, working alongside Team Rubicon — a U.S.-based organization that unites the skills of military veterans and first responders — to quickly assess the situation and needs following Hurricane Florence. Mercy Corps’ response will focus on the most vulnerable households and people in the greatest need of aid. Experience has shown that those priority needs are likely to include emergency cash, as well as relief items like solar lanterns that provide light and allow survivors to charge mobile phones while power is out. Mercy Corps is mobilizing quickly to distribute these items to vulnerable households.

“Together with Team Rubicon, we are conducting emergency assessments. We are traveling with their reconnaissance teams to assess the damage done by the storm and determine the most vulnerable areas with the most damage for targeting with resources as needed. Team Rubicon will provide services to help clean up damage to their homes from flooding, and Mercy Corps will provide non food items and financial assistance to some of the most affected populations to help them purchase needed items to get them through the first few days."

More Information

What do I receive when I order this product?

When you purchase this product, you are sponsoring a PackLite Hero 2-in-1 Supercharger, to be sent directly to the Mercy Corps warehouse. If you provide a shipping address at checkout, we will mail you a thank you card, but you will not receive a physical product. You can purchase a PackLite Hero 2-in-1 Supercharger for yourself here.

Is this purchase tax deductible?

Will sponsored Packlite Hero 2-in-1 Superchargers be used for Hurricane Florence response only?

Mercy Corps plans to distribute these PackLite Hero 2-in-1 Superchargers in North Carolina as part of their response to Hurricane Florence. When Mercy Corps' need is met, we will close the campaign. We expect this will happen by early October.

We anticipate that all donated lanterns will go to Mercy Corps, but if their need ends before the campaign is closed,Mercy Corps may opt to pre-position remaining lanterns for future relief aid, or LuminAID will donate any remaining sponsored products to another Give Light, Get Light Partner working on hurricane relief. For more information, please Contact Us.

Also in News

For this Notes from the Field blog post, we're featuring a longtime humanitarian partner, the Poyeho Project. We've been working with this organization since 2013 to bring lights to entrepreneurs in Southern Africa.

Hand-carrying LuminAID lights in their luggage is very popular with our nonprofit partners, because our lights are lightweight and space-efficient due to their inflatable pack-flat design. We encourage you to prepare for your trip in advance by looking into the baggage, battery, and import rules for your airline and destination country, so that you can know what to expect.

Happy National Inventors' Day! To celebrate, we're sharing LuminAID’s recent segment on The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca. Our founders, Anna and Andrea, were featured on the show and discussed the innovation behind LuminAID's solar inflatable lanterns.